The Miraculous Story of Gangster Jake
Every time I fought with someone, I wanted to kill them. But the Lord protected me even then. When hatred filled my heart, he spared many lives including my own
Pastor Jake once belonged to a gang in China. He was their leader with 500 gang members under him. His mother passed away early in his life and he made one wrong decision after the other. Thoughts of death plagued him. He couldn’t get the idea out of his head that he should die. Anger fueled all that the gang leader did, and although his life was rife with violence, he never killed anyone. A victory he believes belongs to God. “Every time I fought with someone, I wanted to kill them. But the Lord protected me even then. When hatred filled my heart, he spared many lives including my own,” said Pastor Jake, “I just didn’t realize it at the time.” Living in such darkness compelled the gang leader to choose an unusual career path. He decided to become an assassin. Figuring his chance at a long life had diminished drastically, he went to a restaurant for one last meal before killing his victim. The ladies serving him asked what the special occasion was, and Pastor Jake told them what he planned on doing. The ladies were Christians, and they shared the love of Jesus with him, hope filled his heart and right then he accepted Christ. “My life changed that night. I left the gang and moved in with the ladies. They taught me how to make leather jackets and I got a job working in a garment shop. Surprisingly, one day at work I was paralyzed with back pain and was taken to my bed,” Pastor Jake said. He remembers being so discouraged lying there doing nothing. He never learned to read or write and felt useless. One night he heard a voice say to him, “You will be able to read, and you will be able to read the Bible.” Immediately, Scripture verses appeared on the wall in Pastor Jake’s room as God clearly intervened with an extraordinary miracle. For six months when he was all alone, the wall was illuminated with verses, and he read them, learned, and prayed. He asked Jesus to save his life and heal his pain offering to serve him in return. The Lord answered his prayer. His back healed shortly after, and he became a church planter in cities and villages. God uses his incredible story to teach thousands of people. “I’ve been persecuted for my beliefs, I’ve been to prison many times, but I do it all in the name of Jesus,” Pastor Jake said.
2 Corinthians 12:9 – 11 gives us this promise: And he has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I would rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak then I am strong.
Pastor Jake serves his Lord and Savior. He knows that it is in his weakness that God is strong.
For six months when he was all alone, the wall was illuminated with verses, and he read them, learned, and prayed.
